Pirelli Stadium: Burton Albion

Princess Way, Burton-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England, DE13 0AR

footysphere / Flickr.com

Built on the site of the former Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd Sports & Social Club, the land for Burton’s stadium was donated to the club by Pirelli and in return they received the naming rights for the ground. It opened in 2005 at a cost of £7.2 million and was designed by the same architects who designed Morecambe’s Globe Arena. The idea for a new ground for the club was first mooted in 2003 when it was felt that Burton’s former ground, Eton Park, wasn’t big enough to match the club’s ambitions. That was in spite of the fact that £1 million had been invested in improving the ground enough for it to be suitable for use in the Football League.

The original proposals for the new ground included a training pitch that was intended to be available for public use. The club’s chairman, Ben Robinson, felt that the stadium should be the focal point for the local community of Burton. This included the redevelopment of Eton Park into residential houses. Their attempts to make the ground a haven for the community didn’t exactly pan out as they hoped, with the club needing to install CCTV in 2007 after numerous acts of vandalism took place. This included rocks being thrown at shop windows and newly planted trees being uprooted.

Pirelli Stadium Seating Plan & Where to Sit

Despite being built reasonably recently, The Pirelli Stadium has a typical ‘English Style’ to its design rather than the typically European ‘Bowl Style’ that is common in more modern grounds. The stands tend to have names thanks to sponsorship that can change at any moment, so for the purposes of ease we’ll just talk about them according to their geographical location. Here’s a bit of information about each section of the stadium:

The Main Stand - This is the only stand in the ground that is all-seater and houses the club’s main facilities, such as the club shop and the dressing rooms. It’s also where the club recommends you go if you’re with your family.

The East Stand - This terraced section houses the away supporters and is behind the Eastern goal. The club’s electronic scoreboard is contained within the roof.

The West Stand - This is located behind one of the goals and is where the more vocal Burton supporters hang out. As it’s a terraced section, the fans stand whilst they cheer on their team.

The North Stand - This single-tiered section of terracing runs along the length of the pitch and is fully covered by a roof.

Burton Albion Ticket Prices

Burton Albion don’t categorise their matches, so the ticketing structure is simple to get your head around. They charge different amounts depending on whether want to sit in seats or go in the terraced section of the ground, and like all clubs, Burton also charge different amounts to different age groups, but that’s it.

Here are the cheapest and most expensive ticket prices for adults and concessions, and remember you can only get tickets in advance, there is no cash taken on the turnstiles. The cheapest tickets are in the terraced section, whilst the most expensive are seated.

Adults: £20 - £24

Concessions: £18 - £22

How To Get Burton Albion Tickets

Burton’s website is the best place to go if you’re hoping to get a ticket to see The Brewers play live. You can also call the club’s ticket office if you’d like to buy tickets over the phone. Make sure you plan ahead, as all Championship matches are all-ticket, so you need to buy your ticket in advance as you can’t pay cash on the day.

Where to Buy

Getting To Pirelli Stadium

Burton is right on the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire, so it’s not too tricky to get to from either the North or the South. There are a number of journey options available to you, though, with these being the most usual routes:

Train - Burton Railway Station is the closest to the ground, but it’s still a twenty-five minute walk away. It’s served regularly by trains from Derby, Nottingham and Birmingham, though, so it’s easy enough to get to. A train from London Euston will take less than an hour and a half via Tamworth.

Bus - If you don’t fancy the walk from the railway station then you might want to think about getting the bus. Both the Trent Barton V1 and the V2 bus services go from directly outside the station to The Pirelli Stadium every half an hour.

Car - If you’re on the M1 then leave it at Junction 24 and get onto the A50. Go South onto the A38 then take the turn off for the A5121, following the signs for the ground. From the M1 South exit at Junction 22 and stay on the A511 for about 17 miles until you see signs for the stadium. From the M42 you’ll want to leave at Junction 11 and get on the A444 to Burton. Finally, if you’re on the M6 North then leave at Junction 15 before getting on the A50 to the A38. Stay on there until you see signs for Burton-On-Trent and get on the A5121 before following the instructions above.

By Air - East Midlands Airport is the closest, seeing as it’s less than twenty miles from the ground. Nottingham Airport isn’t too far away either at around 35 miles, whilst Birmingham Airport is under forty miles from the stadium – so you’re spoilt fir choice really.

Taxi - A taxi from Burton Railway Station to the ground will cost about £8.50 and should take just over five minutes, traffic dependent.

Parking Near Pirelli Stadium

There are 400 parking spaces at The Pirelli Stadium, with an overflow car park located at Ryknild Trading Estate not far from the ground.

You can never go too far wrong with a Holiday Inn and this one, about three miles from the stadium, has a garden, a free buffet breakfast, a restaurant and a bar. There’s also self-parking and Wi-Fi available. More details.

If the Holiday Inn doesn’t tickle your fancy then perhaps this 4-star member of the Mercure chain of hotels will. It’s only a mile and a half from the ground and promises a restaurant, a bar, meeting rooms, free Wi-Fi and free parking. More details.

If chain hotels really aren’t your bag then maybe this hotel will be more to your liking. It’s just over a mile from The Pirelli Stadium and has a number of meeting rooms, a restaurant, a bar, a garden and a picnic area. You’d no doubt be disappointed if we said it doesn’t have free Wi-Fi so we won’t because it does. More details.

Pubs & Bars Near Pirelli Stadium

Burton itself has a number of lovely pubs and bars that you’ll want to consider for your pre-match pint and considering the club’s nickname is The Brewers that shouldn’t come as a surprise. if you’d rather drink elsewhere, however, then there’s also Ashby de la Zouch nearby, which has both a castle and a brilliant name. Here are some of the best watering holes you’ll want to visit:

The Roebuck Inn

101 Station Street, Burton-On-Trent, DE14 1BT (01283 511 213)

The Roebuck Inn is a traditional pub not far from the station that offers a warm and friendly welcome. More than that, though, it’s also got an excellent real ale selection, a live bar and numerous TVs to show any live sport that might be on.

The Devonshire Arms

86 Station Street, Burton-On-Trent, DE14 1BT (01283 562 392)

Within the same postcode as The Roebuck is The Devonshire Arms. The Devonshire might just have a leg up on The Roebuck because they have delicious food available for your consideration as well as all of the ales and sports watching opportunities you’d expect from such an establishment.

The Beech Inn

Derby Road, Stretton, Burton-On-Trent, DE13 0DL (01283 561 811)

The closest of these three venues to the ground at about a ten minute walk away, The Beech Inn is part of The Beech Hotel and offers real ale, a good beer garden, an open fire and TV screens that will show any interesting sport that’s going on.

Facilities

As you would expect from a relatively newly built ground, The Pirelli Stadium has reasonably good facilities. There are no supporting pillars obstructing your view like you tend to find with older grounds and there’s even a bar for away supporters that you can sit down in. There are plenty of places to buy a bite to eat or a drink, too.

Prices

Programme: 3.00

Pie: 2.50

Cup of tea: 1.30

Beer: 2.85

Hospitality

footysphere / Flickr.com

There are two main hospitality options available at The Pirelli Stadium, with the club priding themselves on the fact that their match day hospitality is an ideal treat for families or business partners. Here’s some information on each:

The Albion Suite - This is a modern spacious air-conditioned room with its own bar. You’ll get a reserved seat outside of the Albion Suite from where you can watch the match, as well as refreshments at half-time and full-time. Oh, and there’s the small matter of a pre-match four-course meal that you’ll get to enjoy, too.

Executive Boxes - If you like your privacy then an executive box is the way to go. No need to hang around with the hoi polloi in the Albion Suite. Instead, enjoy your four-course pre-match meal in the comfort and seclusion of your own box before watching the game either from inside it or else from the executive seat in front of it.

Private Hire

The various lounges and suites at The Pirelli Stadium can be used for all sorts of things, from wedding fayres through to sporting dinners and multiple delegate conferences. The Albion Suite can host up to 300 people, whilst The Tom Bradbury Lounge is a little smaller and can look after around 100 guests. If you’re a huge Brewers fan then you might like to know that you can not only attend wedding fayres at the ground but can also get married there, if you can convince your other half.

Stadium Tours & Museum

As things currently stand Burton Albion don’t offer tours of the stadium. There’s also no museum to speak of, though if either of those things change in the future then we’ll let you know immediately.

About Burton Albion

Burton as a town is more au fait with rugby being the traditional sport of the area, so local football clubs have often struggled to get going and stay going. Burton Swifts, Burton Town, Burton United and Burton Wanderers have all been football clubs at one time or another and have all had something to do with the existence of Burton Albion. The club was founded in 1950 and spent the first 59 years of its existence playing football in the non-league section of the English game. It wasn’t until their promotion in 2009 that they joined the Football League. Even then though things weren’t plain sailing. Burton were nineteen points clear at the top of the Conference towards the end of the season and the league’s sponsors, Blue Square, declared them the winners and began paying out bets on them. Week by week they lost their lead after that, only gaining promotion on the last day when Cambridge United drew 0-0 with Altrincham.

Burton have welcomed a number of reasonably well-known names into their dugout over the years. Peter Taylor, who would go on to make a name for himself as Brian Clough’s number two at Hartlepool United, Derby County, Brighton & Hove Albion and of course Nottingham Forest gained his experience at Eton Park, managing The Brewers from 1962 until 1965. Neil Warnock also earned his stripes with Burton, taking the manager’s position on from 1981 until 1986 and gaining the experience that would make him so successful at the likes of Notts County, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United. More recently former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has tried his hand at management at The Pirelli Stadium, with Nigel Cough returning to the dugout to replace him in December 2015 having previously managed the club for eleven years from 1998 until 2009.

Pirelli Stadium History

Perer Bonnett / Flickr.com

The Pirelli Stadium is basically directly opposite where the old Eton Park ground used to be before it was demolished and turned into housing. The first fixture at the ground was a pre-season friendly against Chester that the home team lost 1-0. Trialist Avun Jephcott scored the first goal in the new stadium, with Albion having to wait until Kevin Street scored against Hull City in another friendly before they could see one of their own players score in the ground. The Pirelli Stadium was officially opened on the 14th of November 2005 when The Brewers played a friendly against Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. The home side won that game 2-1.

When the club gained promotion to the Football League in 2009 they also gained the ability to add an extra 712 seats to the ground’s capacity. It moved from 6,200 to 6,912 following a discussion with Staffordshire County Council. The first Football League game held at the ground was a 5-2 victory over Morecambe on the 15th of August 2009. On the 12th of December 2009 the ground saw two firsts at the same time: The hat-trick scored by Greg Pearson in the club’s 6-1 win over Aldershot was not only the first hat-trick scored at the new ground it was also the first hat-trick scored by any Burton player in the Football League. As things currently stand the 6-1 win is also the biggest victory margin the club has recorded at The Pirelli.

Future Developments

Perer Bonnett / Flickr.com

Numerous plans were put in place during the construction stages of The Pirelli Stadium to allow the club to extend the stadium further. This will mainly include the building of a pub in the ground as well as a 40-room hotel nearby. At the time of writing these plans have been suspended because of the spiraling cost of developing the ground initially.